USA TODAY Sports' Nate Ryan offers observations, insights and reflections on the impressive, notable and weird in NASCAR at the halfway point of its regular season in Sprint Cup.

Drivers jockeying for a slot in the newly expanded 16-spot championship field have 13 races left to qualify, starting Sunday at Pocono Raceway.

WINNING IS EVERYTHING

Or is it? That mantra certainly has seemed a NASCAR maxim under the new format that ties victories to berths in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship playoff. Nary has a driver talked this season about the morale-building merits of a seventh-place finish.

But as the opportunities for wins dwindle, keep an eye on the standings and whether winless teams on the Chase bubble are more inclined to play it safe and protect their rankings rather than risk long-shot chances at victories. The smart money says "points racing" will be back in vogue by Bristol.

MOST MEMORABLE QUOTES OF FIRST HALF

--"He does awesome things for charity, and he's probably the most talented race car driver, but he's also one of the dumbest. So put those three together." – Brad Keselowski on Kurt Busch after a collision at Martinsville

--"He tried to flatten all four of my tires. That's a no-fly zone. That's a punk-ass move and he will get what he gets back when I decide to give it back." – Busch on Keselowski after winning the race

ALIEN ABDUCTIONS! PLAGUES OF LOCUSTS! EXTINCTION-LEVEL METEORS!

It hasn't gotten that strange, but 2014 hasn't been lacking for the bizarre moments that are so quintessentially NASCAR.

Jet dryers damaged cars during the pace laps at Texas; a pothole popped up halfway through the race at Dover; an official accidentally triggered a caution light at Bristol, and another got stuck on a fence trying to trigger a pit light at Fontana.

Toss in a few dozen hours of energy-sapping rain delays at Daytona, Bristol and Texas, and the NASCAR brass hasn't lacked for character-building challenges. Give them credit for handling most with aplomb (though Denny Hamlin still might be wondering about the chain of events that led to being benched for a sinus infection-turned-eye-obstruction at Fontana).

PHOTOS: Key moments in 2014 NASCAR season

Kevin Harvick, center, celebrates with his wife DeLana, right, and others after winning the Ford EcoBoost 400 and earning his first Sprint Cup Series title on Nov. 16. (Photo: Jerome Miron, USA TODAY Sports)

The final four Sprint Cup title contenders (from front to back), Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman, rode up front for much of the Nov. 16 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. (Photo: Jerry Lai, USA TODAY Sports)

Kevin Harvick celebrates his win at the Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. The victory put Harvick in the Chase final four along with Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Ryan Newman. (Photo: Dominic Valente, AP)

Ryan Newman became a surprise Chase finalist when he slammed Kyle Larson out of the way on the final lap of the Nov. 9 race at Phoenix International Raceway. With the move, Newman finished 11th, which was enough to knock second-place finisher Jeff Gordon (not pictured) out of the final four. (Photo: Todd Warshaw, Getty Images)

Jeff Gordon, center, was itching for a fight with Brad Keselowski after an aggressive move by the Team Penske driver left Gordon with a flat tire and a 29th-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway after Gordon was battling for the lead in the closing laps. (Photo: Matthew Bishop, AP)

Kyle Busch entered the elimination race at Talladega Superspeedway second in points, but a major crash in the GEICO 500 on Oct. 19 sent him reeling out of the Chase. (Photo: Randy Sartin, USA TODAY Sports)

Brad Keselowski celebrates after winning the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Oct. 19. Keselowski prevailed in a must-win situation to advance to the third round of the Chase. (Photo: Marvin Gentry, USA TODAY Sports)

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s crew works on his car during the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway after Earnhardt crashed due to a flat tire. Earnhardt was put in a must-win situation in order to advance in the Chase. (Photo: Jared C. Tilton, Getty Images)

Aric Almirola, left, laments his terrible debut in the Chase to ESPN reporter Jamie Little after blowing an engine in the opening race at Chicagoland Speedway, dooming his chances of advancing to the next round. (Photo: Jasen Vinlove, USA TODAY Sports)

Tony Stewart heads to the garage after hitting the wall for the second time during the Oral-B USA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Aug. 31. He finished 41st in his return to racing. (Photo: Marvin Gentry, USA TODAY Sports)

Tony Stewart addresses the media at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Aug. 29. Stewart returned to a race track for the first time since his car struck and killed Kevin Ward Jr. during an Aug. 9 sprint car race at Canandaigua Motorsports Park in upstate New York. (Photo: Kevin Liles, USA TODAY Sports)

Kyle Larson stands next to his burning car after a crash at the Pure Michigan 400 on Aug. 17. Two days earlier, NASCAR announced a new rule governing driver behavior under caution in the wake of the incident in which Tony Stewart struck and killed Kevin Ward Jr. in a sprint car race. Drivers now are required to remain in their cars unless their safety is at immediate risk. (Photo: Dave Frechette, AP)

AJ Allmendinger celebrates after winning the Cheez-It 355 at Watkins Glen International on Aug. 10. Allmendinger's first career Sprint Cup Series win clinched an unlikely berth in the Chase for the JTG-Daugherty Racing driver. (Photo: Kevin Hoffman, USA TODAY Sports)

During a sprint car race at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Motorsports Park on Aug. 9, Tony Stewart, above, struck and killed 20-year-old driver Kevin Ward Jr. Ward had walked down the track as the cars were driving under caution to confront Stewart in his car after the two collided on the previous lap. (Photo: Mike DiNovo, USA TODAY Sports)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. celebrates with a broom after winning the GoBowling.com 400 on Aug. 3, sweeping the two races at Pocono Raceway and earning his third win of the season. The victory came just days after announcing a new crew chief for next season. (Photo: Bill Streicher, USA TODAY Sports)

Jeff Gordon made history at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 27, scoring his 90th career Sprint Cup win and becoming the first driver to win the Brickyard 400 five times. (Photo: Brian Spurlock, USA TODAY Sports)

Morgan Shepherd (33) was more than 10 laps down when the 72-year-old collided with Joey Logano, who was running second, during the Camping World RV Sales 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 13. The crash re-ignited a debate over NASCAR's no-age limit. (Photo: Jared C. Tilton, Getty Images)

The Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway got off to a chaotic start when 16 cars collided just 19 laps into the race that started a day late because of rain. Among the drivers involved: Tony Stewart (14), Kevin Harvick (4), Brad Keselowski (2), Marcos Ambrose (9) and defending race winner Jimmie Johnson (48). (Photo: Chris Graythen, Getty Images)

Brad Keselowski cut his hand on a champagne bottle while celebrating in victory lane after winning the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway on June 28. Keselowski needed stitches and sported a cast in the post-race press conference. (Photo: Todd Warshaw, Getty Images)

Jimmie Johnson won three out of four races in a one-month stretch: the Coca-Cola 600, May 25 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, left; the FedEx 400, June 1 at Dover International Speedway, center; and the Quicken Loans 400, June 15 at Michigan International Speedway. (Photo: AP and Getty Images)

Despite two wins and an extremely fast car, Kevin Harvick has also had his share of problems. At Bristol, his No. 4 Chevrolet caught fire in the infield after crashing during the Food City 500 in March. (Photo: Randy Sartin, USA TODAY Sports)

Carl Edwards will depart for different pastures next season after driving for owner Jack Roush, right, and Roush Fenway Racing for nearly 10 full Cup seasons. (Photo: Todd Warshaw, Getty Images for NASCAR)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. used to limit his social media interaction to pre-arranged Reddit AMA and Twitter chats, like this one at Hendrick Motorsports headquarters. But after winning the 2014 Daytona 500, Earnhardt joined Twitter and now is one of NASCAR's biggest tweeters. (Photo: Brian Czobat, Autostock)

Matt Kenseth was leading the Sprint Cup points standings at the halfway point of the 2014 regular season, despite not reaching victory lane. Kenseth had seven wins in 2013 to lead all drivers. (Photo: Andrew Weber, USA TODAY Sports)

Brad Keselowski has mastered NASCAR's new knockout qualifying format, winning poles at Kentucky, Dover and Phoenix and leading the series in average starting position (6.9). (Photo: Patrick Smith, Getty Images)

Danica Patrick raced to a career-best seventh-place finish at Kansas Speedway in May after qualifying ninth and followed up with a fourth-place qualifying run at Charlotte two weeks later. (Photo: Jasen Vinlove, USA TODAY Sports)

Kasey Kahne, left, had racked up 23 top-five finishes combined in 2012 and '13. But through mid-August, Kahne has just two -- a third-place run at Kansas and a fifth at Michgan. (Photo: Jerome Miron, USA TODAY Sports)

After rookie Austin Dillon won the pole for this year's Daytona 500, the talk about Dale Earnhardt’s old number coming back to the Cup Series hasn’t been much of a topic. (Photo: Jasen Vinlove, USA TODAY Sports)

Track workers extinguish a fire that started in the pace car during the Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway in February, one of many weird events in NASCAR's opening half of 2014. (Photo: Jim Topper, AP)

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The Twitter christenings of longtime holdouts Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart were shocking. Even more stunning is how quickly and adeptly they adapted to the nuances of social media micro blogging.

Following Earnhardt's hyperactive feed is akin to the stream of consciousness that might be absorbed from an afternoon of playing Xbox on a couch next to the 11-time most popular driver. Stewart, meanwhile, has provided an entertaining window into a varied life of grueling physical rehabilitation (with hypodermic needles and weights), strange bedfellows (pet pig Porkchop) and bachelor dinners (SpaghettiOs).

It's bye-bye to Boogity this weekend at Pocono Raceway as TNT takes the wheel from Fox on Sprint Cup broadcasts. It's the final six-race "Summer Series" for TNT, which then will hand off to ESPN for its swan song after an eight-year run (Fox and NBC will split the schedule for 10 seasons starting in 2015). TNT has added the "Toyota Camry Test Car," which analysts Kyle Petty and Wally Dallenbach (who form the commentator team with play-by-play announcer Adam Alexander and analyst Larry McReynolds) will drive in prerace segments exploring each track. The network will reprise its all-access driver features with Kyle Larson (Pocono), Austin Dillon (Michigan) and A.J. Allmendinger (Daytona) among those followed in the next six weeks.

SELECTED DRIVER REPORT CARDS

Jimmie Johnson

Grade: A

Wins/Avg. finish: 2/12.0

Comment: Even before its two-race winning streak, the No. 48 already was exhibiting flashes of championship form. The sky was never falling, and now the sky is the limit for the six-time champion.

Comment: Recovery from his broken right leg is taking longer than he expected. But there have been encouraging signs (a pole at Texas, fourth at Bristol) and slinking around in a sprint car shows Smoke's vigor is back.

Kurt Busch

Grade: D

Wins/Avg. finish: 1/26.0

Comment: The comeback win at Martinsville and impressive showing at the Indianapolis 500 have masked a forgettable season. But a provisional Chase berth provides ample opportunity and time to salvage it.

Comment: The first three months of 2014 seemed to mirror the last three months of 2013 for a driver who hasn't caught many breaks since a fateful night at Richmond. Good cars at Charlotte and Dover provide some hope.

Ryan Newman

Grade: B+

Wins/Avg. finish: 0/15.5

Comment: Quietly having one of his most efficient seasons, the veteran is maximizing finishes despite being light on power and pit stops. Could earn a Chase berth and become the poster boy for points still mattering.

Comment: Graded on a curve, he seems destined to become the first Sprint Cup rookie winner in five years. Most striking stat of an impressive debut season is that he somehow hasn't led a lap despite contending almost weekly.